Reputation = Performance = Reputation

1. Good reputation in business, particularly for professional and contractual services in the construction sector, is crucial.

2. A corporate reputation takes ages to develop and preserve, and yet can be weakened or destroyed over night.

3. The reputation of the construction industry has been very poor. Perhaps it is misunderstanding or ignorance of what this important sector contributes to the economy and society as a whole. This could be due to media preoccupation with the "disasters" and bad news stories.

4. There is no doubt that "people" and "communities", which include our key business stakeholders, have the impression that construction is poor value for money, polluting and corrupt.

5. Many construction businesses are finding the market environment to be tougher, and competition intense, due to economic downturn. This will continue for some time to come.

6. Who are our most important business stakeholders? Clients? Customers? Investors? Employees? Communities? All need to feel they can trust our business to perform, live-up to our promises and their expectations.

7. How do our key business stakeholders think of us? How are we doing to change negative perceptions? Do we focus particular care and attention on our repeat, and seemingly "loyal", clients?

8. Reputation is not all about "image", public relations and advertising. It is about business performance and service delivery.

9. Managing our reputation must be continuous and not just when there is an incident or crisis.

10. REPUTATION = PERFORMANCE = REPUTATION